Dick Morris, the former Bill Clinton consultant and confidant-turned conservative commentator, is trying on a new hat: Republican campaign surrogate.

Over the long arc of a career that has twice landed him on the cover of Time magazine, Morris has worked for prominent clients in both parties, ranging from Ed Koch to Jesse Helms. He’s authored books, appeared regularly as a television commentator and served as a key political adviser to Clinton both in Arkansas and in the White House, all the while amassing a reputation as a brilliant, if cold-blooded, strategist.

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POLITICO 44

But in his latest iteration, Morris has become something of a principal himself, headlining rallies, fundraising and advocating for Republican House candidates. He’s formally endorsed some of the party’s top prospects, raised money for a slate of GOP House candidates including David McKinley in West Virginia, and Bob Gibbs and Tom Ganley in Ohio, and even blasted out a message to his e-mail list subscribers heaping praise on David Harmer, a challenger for a northern California-based seat.

House candidates who haven’t received material political benefits from Morris also report having informally discussed their races with the consultant and current FoxNews commentator at conservative events.

“He’s found his place, and he’s become important again. He’s found his place on the right,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic strategist who has known Morris for decades and who credits Morris with helping him land a job in the Clinton White House. “He’s emerged as a major exponent of the conservative Republican argument.”

In an interview, Morris conceded that after spending much of his career dispensing behind-the-scenes advice to political clients, he’s taken on a different role.

“This is a first for me,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve been as active in a nationwide campaign to this degree.”

Morris pointed to President Barack Obama’s ambitious legislative docket as the motivating force behind his transition from strategist to surrogate.

“I’m outraged by the Obama agenda,” Morris told POLITICO. “I speak out about it on national TV, and I wanted to speak out about in person.”

Morris hasn’t limited his role to House races. He’s offered public endorsements to GOP Senate contenders Carly Fiorina in California and Rep. John Boozman in Arkansas and Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania and Bradley Byrne in Alabama. He’s even reached deep down-ballot, throwing his backing to Natalie Nichols, a candidate for Bowie County clerk in Texas, whom he has called “one of the rising, young stars in the Republican Party.”

But Morris, whose voice and familiarity to voters have been amplified by his regular appearances on Fox,, says his real focus is on helping to win the war for the House.

“I believe strongly in what we can do,” said Morris, who in one of his recent appearances on popular Fox host Sean Hannity’s radio program argued that Republicans were in line to win 60 to 80 House seats.

What Morris offers on the campaign trail, House GOP campaign officials say, is an ability to mobilize and excite party donors and activists with an empowering message that a massive Republican sweep is on the horizon.

During a recent joint fundraiser for Ganley, Gibbs and another Ohio GOP hopeful, Bill Johnson, Morris said he believed the party could win six seats across the state while winning control of the House.

As is most of America, hence the highly likely change in leadership in The House and the country moving right.

Morris is on the very optimistic side of predictions, still predicting a GOP controlled Senate.....we shall see.

He is confident Reid will lose in a close one.....that would be sweet.

He is also confident Feingold is going down....again, what a comment on the left's agenda!.....One of the most liberal incumbant Senators losing just a short 2 years after Obama's win.....Simply amazing.

Marco Rubio....a lock......I really have to chuckle about the predictions on these threads about Crist winning and being with the Dems in the Senate....what a joke.

The announcement that Dick Morris has become a public media advisor & now gives speeches on behalf of candidates is logical since his fall from grace because of his continual use of a call girl back when he worked for President Clinton . He has been appearing on Fox News Channel as a biased GOP operative that came inside the studio . This new opportunity and his book writing puts him potentially right back in the spotlight until his next potential fall from grace ala Senator David Vitter [ R - La ] .

Alot of people dont like what they voted for in '08 and are looking for a way to make it right. Some dont want to go all out and change to Republican but they know deep down they have to vote conservative this time around in order to make it right enough to slow Obamas elite progressive administration down. Congress has always run badly when one party has complete control just as we're seeing with this one. Only this one has brought it to a new low because they're doing it within a deep recession they brought on themselves. They have been planning this recession for years as demonstrated by their having farmed out the writing of the Stimulus package years ago, even before they took control of congress after the elections in '06. Now they have voted for and passed multi thousand page bills and no one has any idea whats in them.

Small business owners dont know which way to turn so they are inclined to do nothing until this congress is out of control of a anti capitalist agenda. Korea and Iran in the middle east are in a full fledged nuclear races while this spineless POTUS does nothing but whimper. After decades of illegal immigration their drugs and labor have been exploited, now Mexicans and their officials are being slaughtered right across our border, some of the drug lords bullets actually hitting federal buildings in America.

This is what liberalism is about right here for the last two years, this is what they've been waiting for, this is what all the crises have been about...progressively nudging us where we dont want to be until now we are being slammed with huge fundamentally changing litigation.

Bit hey, be it corrupt Alinsky Chicago style Obama got some anti capitalist agenda pushed through congress, the ends justify the means right? What a hero.

Sound familiar? Oh gee...., where have we heard THAT before? Morris predicts Republican takeovers in both the House and the Senate. The stupid Dems deserve to lose even more. Maybe Morris will be an advisor in the Romney White House. He couldn't be any worse than what we have now.

The problem with people in this country is that they are too occupied with what goes on in peoples bedrooms than what policymakers are actually doing when they make poilicies.

Why should you care if Bill Clinton was with Monica ? He left huge surpluses and the country was running great.

Gore ignored Clinton during his run for President and look how that turned out

Morris pays for sex and is forced to resign.........

Ignore their sex lives - it isnt affecting you--- but their rotten policies are....... Morris knows Obama is destroying this country so he is helping to put some checks and balances in place and unfortunately that means voting some REpublicans in to cause a balance . BUT ITS THE ONLY WAY TO STOP OBAMA PELOSI AND REID BEFORE THEY ALLOW THIS COUNTRY TO BE OVERRUN BY ILLEGALS AND DRUG LORDS .

Keep it up Dick..I mean the good work.. Flip the House and maybe the Senate too...

I personally don't understand why so many are treating Morris like a wise political guru...if you go to his website, judging by the comment, hardly anyone reads him...when he is on Fox news, he always finds a way to bring up a book he is pusing or his website...and as I say on my website...or as I say in my new book...we'll see how correct he is about his predictions for the upcoming elections...

I personally don't understand why so many are treating Morris like a wise political guru...if you go to his website, judging by the comment, hardly anyone reads him...when he is on Fox news, he always finds a way to bring up a book he is pusing or his website...and as I say on my website...or as I say in my new book...we'll see how correct he is about his predictions for the upcoming elections...